English and other Flank Openings

After 1 d4, and 1 e4, I suppose that the next two most logical moves
are 1 c4, and then 1 Nf3. Not surprisingly these are also the next two
most popular moves. Therefore, this site deals mostly
with the English (which is my personal favourite opening), and then devotes
quite a bit of room to the Réti. However, I also handle all the
other funny opening lines, some of which are reasonably popular, some
not at all- well, someone had to have them!

So named because of the (unofficial) English World Champion, Howard Staunton
(1810-1874) who played it a lot, but it only really caught on, and became ‘mainstream’
with the advent of the Hypermodern School. White establishes a grip on d5 with
his first move, which he will attempt to increase with his subsequent moves,
Nc3, g3, and Bg2. This brings us on to an important strategical element, the
pressure from this white bishop on g2 along the h1-a8 diagonal, all the way
to b7, and beyond.

Play can often transpose into queen's pawn main lines, whenever White plays
an early d4, but these are covered in other sections, and here I will completely
ignore anything that has lost its real 'English' identity.

As in the Réti, play can become closed, should both sides refuse a central
clash, but also very open, should White continue with an early d4, for instance.
Thus, the opening appeals to all types of player, from those who prefer calm
positional manoeuvres, and those in between, to sharp, tactical hackers (like
myself!)

Anglophiles

English specialists come in two flavours, those who play the opening from time-to-time,
and use it mainly to reach favourable 1 d4 openings, whilst avoiding certain
defences (1 c4 Nf6 2 Nc3 g6 3 e4 is a case in point, forcing a Grünfeld
player to play the King’s Indian after the further 3...d6 4 d4), and those who
live to play the English. Into the former category come:

Kramnik, who normally starts with 1 Nf3, and plays c4 on his second move. Despite
the fact that his tactical vision is second to none, plays in a solid, positional
style.

Gelfand, Ivanchuk, Salov, Karpov, in fact almost all the world elite, going
back in time to Tal, Petrosian, Botvinnik, etc.

In the latter category come the 'anglophiles', they speak English as a native
language, and amongst these players are, at present:

Yasser Seirawan (a wing player 'par excellence'), the late, and sorely missed Tony Miles, Chernin (who plays in the
most unpretentious manner, and yet can gain crushing positions in only a
few moves) Mikhail Gurevich, Korchnoi, the tactician Krasenkow, Serper (one of my personal
favourites, a man with a different sense of values to the rest of us), Kevin
Spraggett (I am always 'borrowing' his ideas) and many others besides.

The Réti Opening

Named after Richard Réti (1889-1929), this opening was born out of his
ideas, and that of the hypermodern school. White avoids immediate pawn occupation
of the centre, preferring to control it from afar with his pieces. Traditionally,
this can lead to slow, manoeuvering games, where both sides develop their pieces
and wait for the right moment to strike in the centre, or it can lead to positions
where Black attempts to construct a centre, and White to attack, and destroy
it. Often this can resemble reversed versions of various black defences, with
the advantage that White has an important extra tempo, of course.

It is a very flexible move, and nowadays many players use 1 Nf3 as a means of obtaining other openings,
whilst avoiding various dangerous possibilities. For instance, after 1
Nf3 Nf6 2 c4, White reaches an English Opening, but having avoided 1...e5. Players who
come into this category are Kramnik, Krashenkov, Speelman, and many others.

'Thoroughbred' Réti players are those who play the opening as it was
originally intended, attempting to develop their pieces without touching their
e, and d-pawns, with bishops on b2, and g2. They attempt to snipe away at any
black pawn centre and will keep their central pawn thrusts in reserve for as
long as possible. This is a very un-theoretical approach, indeed, apart from
a few ideas you don't really need to know any theory at all. Players who come
into this group include Akopian, Salov, Ribli, and Vaganian.

Other 'Flank' Openings

This is a very loose term for a group of openings that vary considerably, one
from the other. I tend to think of them as containing two completely different
sets of openings.

Firstly, there are the 'transpositional' openings, and this includes 1 g3, and
1 d3, where White sometimes transposes into an English, or Réti, often plays
reversed Pirc, King's Indian, or Modern Defence positions, and also 1 Nc3 (Dunst).
These openings are rarely played to reach original positions, but to take the
opponent out of his theoretical knowledge. Transpositional tricks abound, perfect
for the unwary opponent to fall into. Many players have used these moves on
an occasional basis, but few players stick to them.

Secondly, there are the really distinctive openings, those openings that produce
a thoroughly original position after just a couple of moves. These are further
split into two groups, the reasonably respectable ones: 1 b3 (Larsen's Opening)
where White plays for the control of the a1-h8 diagonal, 1 f4 (Bird's Opening)
a sort of reversed Dutch Defence, where White tries to control e5, and mount
a kingside attack. Then there are 1 b4 (The Orang-utan), and 1 g4 (Grob's Opening)
which verge on the unsound.

Apart from 1 b3, only really original players are tempted into these waters,
most players manage to spend their entire lives quite happily without ever having
to worry about them. Still, you never know when someone will try something unusual
against you, and so it pays to know a good defence against each!